Jimmy Eat World, Papa Roach, The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Thrice, Sleeping With Sirens, All Time Low, The Devil Wears Prada, et Plain White T's

Childhood friends Jim Adkins and Zach Lind partnered with guitarist Tom Linton and bassist Mitch Porter to form the band in 1993. Under local label Wooden Blue Records Jimmy Eat World released a few singles, an EP and a self-titled album during 1993-94. The band got lucky in 1995 with a contract under Capitol Records that allowed them to release the album “Static Prevails.” For this venture, friend Rick Burch replaced Mitch Porter and drummer Mark Trombino joined the group.

In 1999, Jimmy Eat World released “Clarity” which was recorded in studios in California. The single “Lucky Denver Mint” was featured on the soundtrack of rom-com “Never Been Kissed” which elevated the band to mainstream audiences. However, the album that prompted Jimmy Eat World to worldwide fame is “Bleed American” which was put out in 2001 by DreamWorks. The single “The Middle” exploded on the airwaves and took the #5 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

Following tremendous success with “Bleed American” Jimmy Eat World recruited producer Gil Norton (whose previous experience includes working with bands like the Pixies and Foo Fighters) to work on “Futures.” Their fourth album came out October 2004 and the single “Pain” became a hit. By this time Jimmy Eat World had toured independently to promote “Bleed American” and also in collaboration with Taking Back Sunday. In 2005 they joined forces with Green Day on a worldwide tour.

In total Jimmy Eat World has released eight studio albums both independently and under major label Interscope Records (formerly DreamWorks). The band’s name comes from a cartoon drawn by Linton’s younger brother Ed, who was making fun of their brother Jim. The drawing depicts a slab of the Earth resting on Jim’s jaw, and the rest is history. Jimmy Eat World considers punk bands Mr. T Experience, Radon and Tempe’s Horace Pinker as influences in their music.

Papa Roach’s music style has been largely debated and the band has been referred to under many different genres. These include hard rock, electronic rock, alternative metal, nu metal, rap rock and rap metal. Generally, however, they are simply referred to as a rock band.

Papa Roach formed in 1993, when two of its members discussed the potential of a band on their school football field. Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Dave Buckner started the band and were soon joined by bass guitarist Will James and lead guitarist Jerry Horton. During these early days the band played every gig they could get, balancing school with performing. A year later they released their first EP, bizarrely entitled ‘Potatoes for Christmas’. In 1996 James was replaced by Tobin Esperance. In 1997 the band released their first full length album, entitled the self-explanatory ‘Old Friends from Young Years’. Their last two independent releases were in 1998 and 1999. The latter EP, ‘Let ‘Em Know’, earned them a record deal by DreamWorks Records.

Since signing and entering the mainstream market, Papa Roach have continued to garner a steady stream of support and success, touring with esteemed bands such as Guns N’ Roses. However, one of their earliest tracks, ‘Last Resort’, still remains their most popular single to date. They have toured worldwide, indicating just how successful the band has become since their early days. The current line up now consists of original, Jacoby Shaddix, Jerry Horton, Tobin Esperance and Tony Palermo who replaced Buckner after he entered rehab.

Despite their mainstream success, Papa Roach remain indie at heart. Their name is an indication of the real bond between the members and the history between them: Papa Roach was the nickname of Shaddix’s step-grandfather, who committed suicide in 2006 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. The band paid homage to him with the song ‘Roses on my Grave’.

With the initial material preceding the band’s formation, after holding auditions at Howard’s abode, McCracken was invited along and he was so impressed with the quality of songs they had already worked on that he agreed to join. Shortly after this, they decided upon the band name Used, a reflection of the hardships that they had faced as individuals and the feeling they had been left with. With everything in place, the band went ahead and recorded “Demos from the Basement” and sent it to Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann. So enthused by what he had heard, Feldmann made it his mission to find them a label. In 2001 the band signed with Reprise Records.

Finding out there was another band in existence with the same name, the band added prefix ‘the’ and would become known as The Used. In 2002 they released their debut self-titled album produced by John Feldmann. Certifying gold, the album featured the singles “A Box Full of Sharp Objects”, “The Taste of Ink” and “Buried Myself Alive”. Off the back of that album, the band were invited to play at Ozzfest, Projekt Revolution and Warped Tour.

In 2004, tragedy struck as McCracken’s then girlfriend died of an overdose while pregnant with his child. His angst fed into their second album released later that year, “In Love and Death” as an open dedication to her reflected in the track “Hard to Say”. The album also produced the singles “I Caught Fire” and “All That I’ve Got”.

Two years later Steineckert announced his departure from the band as he went on to join punk band Rancid and was replaced by Dan Whitesides. Spending the majority of 2007 touring on Taste of Chaos and Give it a Name festival before releasing their third album “Lies for the Liars”. The album featured the popular tracks “The Bird and the Worm”, “Pretty Handsome Awkward” and “Liar Liar (Burn In Hell)” and peaked at number five in the US Billboard charts.

In 2011 McCracken and the band set up their own record label called Anger Music Group in conjunction with Hopeless Records, giving the band an opportunity for more room for creative control. It was through this label the band released their fifth album “Vulnerable” in 2012.

Though The Used may shy away from the term ‘emo’ band, none-the-less the band capture extravagant and expressive music producing catchy anthems which forever induce fond memories.

Prior to forming Taking Back Sunday, rhythm guitarist Eddie Reyes played in a number of seminal post-hardcore bands including Mind Over Matter and the Movielife. With the band recording their debut self-titled EP, original bass player Jesse Lacey left the group to form Brand New. Guitarist John Nolan invited his North Carolinian friend Adam Lazzara to play bass, but he ended up on lead vocals and Shaun Cooper came in on bass. After the release of their EP Taking Back Sunday began to tour relentlessly alongside the likes of Brand New and The Reunion Show, which would set the scene for their future touring endeavours.

The band’s full-length debut arrived in 2002 with the tongue-in-cheek and highly transparent name “Tell All Your Friends” released through Victory Records. It was the band’s first taste of commercial and critical success aided by the singles “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)”, “Great Romances of the 20th Century” and “You’re So Last Summer”.

Following the departure of John Nolan and Shaun Cooper in 2003, replaced by Fred Mascherino and Matt Rubano, Taking Back Sunday opened for Blink-182 and appeared on the 2004 Vans Warped Tour. Soon after came the band’s sophomore release “Where You Want To Be” on July 27, 2004. The album debuted at No.3 on the Billboard 200 and following high-profile appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the Spider-Man 2 soundtracks, cemented the band as a forerunner among melodic hardcore and commercial emo bands. The release was followed again by an extensive and exhaustive tour schedule including stops on the Warped Tour and several North American festivals.

Taking Back Sunday made their major label debut in 2006 with their third full-length “Louder Now” which attempted to capture some of the energy of their distinctive live show. Released through Warner Bros. the album was led by the single “What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?” and resulted in appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

In 2007 Fred Mascherino left the group to focus on his solo album with The Color Fred, citing many the band’s problems regarding writing songs. Taking Back Sunday has subsequently release the albums “New Again” in 2009, “Taking Back Sunday” in 2011 and “Happiness Is” in 2014, along with an EP entitled “Faith (When I Let You Down)” in 2011. Since 2011 the original Taking Back Sunday line-up has returned, playing both on subsequent releases and at live shows.

Prior to forming Thrice vocalist/guitarist Dustin Kensrue and guitarist Teppei Teranishi had played in the rock group Chapter 11 together. Alongside bassist Eddie Breckridge and drummer Riley Breckridge, who knew Dustin and Teppei from school and the local skate park, began practicing together and played their first gig in 1998. The name Thrice was initially considered to be a temporary moniker however the group soon developed a following in the local area and became associated with the name. In 1999 Thrice released their debut EP entitled “First Impressions”, which was limited to 1,000 copies, followed by the full-length “Identity Crisis” in April 2000. Released on Greenfly Records, the album earned the group a significant national buzz, and a percentage of the album’s proceeds were donated to a local children’s charity.

Thrice subsequently signed with Hopeless/Sub City’s who reissued the band’s debut “Identity Crisis” and sent Thrice on tour alongside Samiam. In 2002 the band’s sophomore “The Illusion of Safety” was released to favourable reviews and the group embarked on an extensive national tour in support of Further Seems Forever and Face to Face. Once again a portion of the album’s proceeds were donated to charity, with the label matching whatever the band raised. Due to the success of the album and tour, Thrice caught to attention of major label Island Records, who signed the band and agreed to match any charitable donations.

The band’s major-label debut “The Artist in the Ambulance” arrived in 2003 and charted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200. Led by the tracks “All That’s Left” and “Stare At The Sun” the album found favour across the musical press and Thrice subsequently began playing larger venues, including dates with Thursday and Cohered and Cambria. The full-length “Vheissu” was issued in October 2005 with proceeds going to the Dave Eggers’ charity 826 Valencia and in turn the cover art was designed by Eggers. The album features a much richer and textured instrumentation than its predecessors and was once again supported by an extensive touring schedule including headlining the 2006 Taste of Chaos tour. The EP “Red Sky” followed in early 2006 and the elaborate four-disc concept album “The Alchemy Index” in 2007. The live albums “The MySpace Transmissions” and “Live at the House of Blues” appeared in 2009, succeeded by the studio album “Beggars” in 2009 and “Major/Minor” in 2011.

Once the band formed in 2009 they were quick to release their debut album “With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear”, which came out in 2010 on Rise Records. The album was an immediate success within the post-hardcore and emo world, and would reach the number seven spot on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart.

Sleeping with Sirens was quick to draw in the audiences’ attention with their melodic take on the post-hardcore genre. The post-hardcore genre can be known to display music that is often abrasive and often hard to digest, but Sleeping with Sirens were not afraid to take the genre in a more pop oriented direction. Kellin Quinn’s voice is incredibly distinctive, singing in the tenor leggiero range, which allows his voice to jump up to very high ranges. Their music features heavy guitar riffs as well as fast sweeping guitar leads that are layered over the thunderous sounds of the drums.

Just a year after Sleeping with Sirens released their debut album they released their second studio album “Let’s Cheers to This”, which featured some of their most popular songs like “Do It Now Remember It Later” and “Fire”. The album also was a commercial success reaching the number five slot on the Billboard’s Hard Rock chart.

With the release of their third studio album “Feel”, Sleeping with Sirens really started to break into the mainstream. The album reached number three on Billboard’s US 200 chart and received critical praise from such publications as Alternative Press and Allmusic. The album contained the singles “Low” and “Alone” as well as featured several guest musicians such as the rapper Machine Gun Kelly.

When Sleeping with Sirens aren’t busy writing and recording new material they are out on the road playing shows that are often sold out. They have toured with many well-regarded bands within their genre such as Breathe Carolina, Memphis May Fire, and Pierce the Veil. They have also played festivals such as Vans Warped Tour where they have pulled in large crowds as the main act.

The band have maintained the same lineup ever since they started; talismanic frontman Alex Gaskarth sings and plays rhythm guitar and keyboards, Jack Barakat takes care of lead guitar and backing vocals, Zack Merrick does the same on the bass, and Rian Dawson is behind the drum kit. Over the course of their decade-plus career to date, they’ve pretty much become poster boys for pop punk as a genre; it’s a style of music that permeates every aspect of their back catalogue, right from their early days playing Blink-182 covers in school, through to their rise to prominence through the Vans Warped Tour, which is to pop punk and emo bands what Download Festival is to metal.

When promoting their debut full-length “The Party Scene” back in 2005, they were happy to play on the undercard to bands like Plain White T’s and Forever the Sickest Kids, but their follow-up “So Wrong, It’s Right” - released in September of 2007 - saw them genuinely break through, and become one of the best-loved pop punk bands on the circuit. Album number three “Nothing Personal”, was another huge step up, landing at number four on the Billboard charts, and their fourth record, June 2011’s “Dirty Work”, saw them begin to flirt with alternative rock influences - not that it lost them many fans. 2012’s “Don’t Panic” continued that approach, and why not? It’s served them impressively well so far.

Taking their name from the novel of the same title and bounded together by their shared Christian faith, the band formed in 2005 and began playing shows in the area before they had even settled on their line-up.

When the five piece was in place though, the band moved forward quickly, recording a demo to ship to labels with the intention of getting a deal. After being picked up by powerhouse label Rise Records, the band re-recorded the tracks from their demo to make their debut album ‘Dear Love: A Beautiful discord’.

Not wanting to wait around though the band began work on their second album almost immediately and in the summer of 2007 ‘Plagues’ was released. The album spawned singles which made it onto music television shows and gave them the popularity boost they needed for the album to shift over 30 thousand more copies than their debut, peaking at 57 on the Billboard charts.

From here on out the band’s popularity was set in stone and only grew as the band began to tour with every big name on the circuit. Becoming a staple at the Vans Warped Tour helped to reach new fans as well as shows with everyone from Underoath to A Day To Remember and even European dates with Enter Shikari. With 3 more popular albums released since then, the band are undoubtedly one of the premier names in Christian Metal.

The band originally came together as a power trio with high school friends Tom Higgenson as singer and guitarist, Ken Fletcher on the bass guitar and Dave Tirio on the drums. The band made their live debut while playing local shows on the thriving Chicago punk scene, but soon after their live debut they had graduated to playing famed rock clubs like the Chicago’s Metro. As their shows got bigger and they started developing a real life fan-base, the band recruited Steve Mast to play lead guitar and sing backup vocals to give them a fuller live sound. However, the band were nearly kneecapped before they could truly begin when Higgenson broke several vertebrae in his back in a car crash while driving the bands van.

Higgenson was in a brace for three months, and needed to learn how to walk again, but the whole sorry situation changed him in the best way it could. Higgenson realized that life was short, precious and could stop at any moment. Moreover, he assessed what was going on in his life and found that the band was the most important part of it, and that he was fronting an outfit with enough talent to hit the big time in the near future. With that at the forefront of his mind, he started writing songs that carried more of himself in them than ever before, and the whole band started taking their career more seriously as a result. The band released their debut album “Come On Over” in 2000 but it was their second effort, 2002’s self-financed and released effort “Stop” that got the band their first record deal with Fearless Records.

Unfortunately, this lead to another pothole in the bands road to stardom, as while they toured “Stop” in 2003, their first tour with a label backing them, Mast and Fletcher both decided to leave the band. The band had far too much momentum going their way however, and Tirio switched from Drums to rhythm guitar while they recruited Tim Lopez to play lead guitar, Mike Retondo to play bass and De’Mar Hamilton to take the newly vacated drum stool. This is the line-up that Plain White T’s play with to this day, and as if it wasn’t clear enough that they’d made the right choice, they would follow this up by briefly becoming one of the hottest bands in the world.

In 2006 they released their single “Hey There Delilah”, and over a year after its release it hit the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in July 2007. The track was nominated for two Grammy awards and the album it came from “Every Second Counts” was certified Gold. The band found themselves playing shows alongside Panic! At The Disco and Dashboard Confessional, along with headline shows all over the world on the back of the success of “Hey There Delilah”. Ever since then the band have been one of the most beloved cult acts in American rock, with their songs appearing in everything from iCarly to Hollyoaks, and for that, along with their impeccable live show, they come highly recommended.